Thread-controlling means for sewing-machines.



J. MAITLAND. THREAD OONTBAOLLING MEANS FOR SEWING MACHINES.

,APPLIOATIOH FILED FEB. 17,1909.

Patented 0ct.19,1909.

. UN PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN MAITLAND, GE SVJAMPSCGTT, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO THE REECE BUTTON I HOLE MACHINE COMPANY, F BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MAINE.

THREAD-C91? TRQLLING MEANS FOR SEWING-MACHINES.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, Jenn ll lAlTLAND, a citizen of the United Stat and resident of Swampscott, county of Essex, State of Massachusetts, have invented an improvement in Thread-Controlling Means for Sewing- Machines, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawing, is a specification, like characters on the drawing representing like Jarts.

' This invention has for its 0 ject the production of a simple, compact and readily adjustable means for controlling the thread of a sewing machine, the cont-rolling means bein so constructed and arranged that it can e bodily applied to or removed from the machine when necessary.

My invention is particularly adapted for use In connection with buttonhole finishing machines such shown in United States patent to Reece, No. 404,863 dated June 11,

1889, thou h not restricted to such application. In that and other similar machines it has been customary to mount upon the side of the machine base a spring-controlled thread-tension wheel around which the thread iscarried and thence through the guide-eye of a spring-wire auxiliary takeup, also fastened on the machine base, and this thread-controlling meclnmism has in practice been a source of great trouble and.

annoyance; To adjust the parts it has been necessar to tipthe machine up in order to get at t e fastening means for the difi'erent parts, and the spring-wire take-up required most careful and skili'ul attention in order to efiect the proper operation thereof. The

strength of the spring-wire varied from time to time, it would not retain its adjustmentfor any definite period, and it would frequently break, putting the machine out of commission until the broken part could be iemoved and a new one substituted.

vnated the fa guide-eye for the alread and itis In my present invention 1 mount the thread-controlling means on a base-plate which is readily attached to or removed from the machine base, and I have elimispring-Wire take up altogether by I providing a strong and inherently rigid take-up arm, which is. fulcrumedon the 'basep c coaxially with the threadtension wheel. Said take-up arm 18 provided with directly acted upon by a retracting spring u Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed February 17, 1909.

-lc-h can Patented Oct. 19, 1909. Serial No. 478,511.

bodying my invention, detached from the machine and partly broken out; Fig. 3 is a part sectional view thereof on the line 33, Fig. 2; Fig. i is a plan view of the take-up arm, detached; Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 2 but showing a different form of the ElClJllStillJlQ, spring-control for the take-up arm, the housing for the spring being partly broken out.

Referring to Fi 1 the base A of the sewing machine is iorizontally slotted at a for the passage therethrough of the vibrating take-up lever B, substantially as in the patent referred to.

Herein I have shown the various parts'of the thread-controlling means as mounted upon a metal base-plate C,.having a hole 0 and a notch c, Fig. 2, for the rece tion of attaching screws 2, 3, Fig. 1, by W ich the base-plate is readily and quickly secured in place upon the machine base A. By removing screw 3 and loosening screw 2 the plate and everything mounted thereon can be removed bodily from the machine Whenever necessary.

A post d, Fig. 2, is fixedly attached to the base-plate and is provided with a rigid disk d quite near and parallel to the base-plate, which disk sustains a grooved thread-tension wheel d rotatably mounted on the post, acted u 3011 by a washer d? and spring d, the

being varied as to the pressure by a nut d, the tension wheel, washer, spring and nut in themselves being of usual construction. The part of the post d between the disk cl and the base-plate passes loosely through a hole 0", Fig. 4, in the enlarged portion of a fiat take-up arm 6 made of stifi? or inherently rigid late metal and upturned 105 eye 6 which is adjacent the periphery of at one end ate an provided with a guidethe wheel (F. The tail or o posits end aid the arm projects heyond t .e periphery; of

eye a and thence to the main take-up lever B of the machine, under the wire guide 5 fixed to the base plate, and l have provided a manually-adjustable retnacting spring .9, Figs. 1 and 2, for the take-up arm a. One end of the spring is attached at c to the tail of saicil arm and its other end is hooked aroun a lug f" on a plate f longitudinally slotted at f and adjustably clamped on the base-plate by a screw 7, the slotted late having an ear 7' bent over-the edge or the base-plate as a guide.

As clearly shown in Fig. 2 the plate f serves as a stop for the take-up arm, the contraction of the spring holding the tail 0 against the plate, and by moving the latter to the left or right the resistance to the pull of the thread is increased or diminished as required. That is, by moving the plate to the right, viewing Fig. 2, the amplitude of swing of the arm 6 will be diminished when the thread is taken up by the action of the lever B, and the spring will not be stretched so much, but if the plate f is moved to the left practically all of the swing of the arm e will be against the action of the spring, and there will, in consequence, be a greater resistance to the pull of the thread. \V hen the take-up lever 15*, Fig. l, is moved to the left the pull of the thread swings the auxiliary take-up e to the left, against the stress of the spring 8, so that regulation of the latter in'i arts the requisite pull or drag tothe thread It will be seen that the resistance of the take-up arm 6 is adjusted with absolute independence of the adjustment of the threadtension wheel al and when the spring 8 breaks or weakens a new one can be quickly substituted without any disturbance of the other parts of the apparatus.

All adjustments can be made while the thread-controlling means is in operative position on the machine base, and all the parts are in plain sight and instantly accessible.

The thread it is led from the spool through 'a guide 6, Fig. 1, on the machine base,

around a guide 7 on the base-plate C and between two tension members or disks /L, h, Fig. 2, rotatably;mounted on a stud h" on the base-plate and then to the wheel d, a spring [1.2 and nut h serving to press the disks together with an adjustable pressure.

These spring-pressed disks are not in themselves new, but 1 have mounted them on the base-plate (J at one side of and adjacent the tension wheel d to properly govern the thread as it passes to the wheel and to make the thread-controlling means self-contained and removable as a unit from the sewing machine when necessary.

in Fig. 5 l have shown the retracting springs for the auxiliary take-up arm as inclosed in a tubular housing slotted at /v' to receive the screw lu by which it is ad j ustably attached to the base-plate G, the tail c of the take-up arm projecting into the hons ing through a slot iv in its side. The spring s is in this instance normally expanded, be ing compressed when the pull of the thread swings the take-up arm, and the tension of the spring is varied by the screw-stop 70* which is adjustably held in the endoi' the housing, and by adjustment of the latter, by means of slot la. and screw 10 the stopping of the take-up arm hen retracted can be varied somewhat. The spring can be removed and a new one inserted b withdrawing the screw-stop k from the ousing is, as will be obvious.

By making the take-up arm e of plate metal I secure inherent rigidity and strength thereof, with the necessary freedom of vibrational movement, controlled by the adjustable retracting spring.

It will be observed that no tipping up of the machine base is necessary with my improved thread-controlling means; that all the parts thereof are accessible instantly and at all times, and that strength and durability of parts are secured, while the device in its entirety can be taken elf and applied quickl and easily without the employment of ski led labor.

The adjustment of the spring controlling .the auxiliary take-up can be effected while the sewing machine is in operation, if desired, and with great accuracy and nicety, so that the cooperation of the auxiliary take-up with other parts of the thread controllin means can be secured with great exactitu e.

Having fully described my invention,"

what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. 'lhread-controlling means for sewing machines, comprising a detachable baseplate a fixed post thereon having a rigidly attached disk near the base-plate, a sprin controlled thread-tension wheel rotatably mounted on the post above and supported by the disk, an inherently rigid auxiliary take-up arm lulcrumed on the post between the disk and the base-plate and having a guide-eye for the thread, upturned adjacent the periphery ofthe wheel, a spring adjusts ably mounted on the base-plate and acting upon the take-up arm to var the resistance thereof to the pull of the tiread, and o posed springressed tension disks rotatab y mounted on t e base-plate near the tension Wheel.

Threadwonfldling means for sewing machines. comprising a detachable basm plate, spring-prayed ien$i0n membersand :1 springmontmlled thread-tension wheel, r0-

tatnbl mounfed side 1W side 0n the baseplnie, an inherenfly rigid tnkenp arm fulprmnvd conbliallgixwith the Wheel beitween it v i a and he bnmplate 21m] pro 196 with gUiCiQ-QYE for the threafl, and Wlih an up posfively extended mm, 21 tubular, 10ng1t11d1- Emilysioited housing on the base-131mg the tail of H16 take-1m arm entering the slot in g the housiflg, and a mammii adjustable fetracting spring within theousing and co ,operating directly with the tail of szfidfcake up arm.

In testimony whareof, I have signed my name to {his specification; in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

JQHN MAITLAND.

W itzhesses THOMAS J. CARTY, WILLIML J. MCLAUGHLIN, 

